Tent construction



July 21, 1953 Filed Nov. 5, 1949 R. L. BLANCHARD TENT CONSTRUCTION 2SheetS -Sheet 1 R. L. BLANCHARD July 21, 1953 TENT CONSTRUCTION 2Sheets-Sheet 2 Filed Nov. 5, 1949 In v enfor Roerflm larz %O lvze 5Patented July 21 UNITED; STATES PATENT OFFICE TENT CONSTRUCTION RobertL. Blanchard, New York, N. Y.

Application November 5, 1949, Serial No. 125,715 8 Claims. 135-4) ingTent, now Patent No. 2,543,684, dated February 27, 1951.

An object of the invention is to provide an improved tent constructionin which there is more inside space with utmost economy of material andweight.

A further object is to provide a tent construction in which there arepresented no vertical surfaces, but all sides are evenly streamlined tothe wind in all four directions from ridge to ground line. p y

A still further object is to pro-videa tent construction in which oneman may erect the tent in not over five minutes on any terrain whatever,whether it be ice, snow, solid rock, sand, wooden floor, and without theemployment of any extraneous gear but only with what is included withthe tent and is included in the minimum weight of two pounds peroccupant, in the smaller model.

A yet further object is to provide a tent construction in which the tentand the-frame are automatically locked together on assembly to become anintegral unit and can become disassembled only by intent. I

Still another object is to provide an adequate and permanent tentventilator adjustable from the inside to weather conditions and isinstalled at the extreme apex of the tent, and is sustained without anyexternal means other than the frame members at the front and rear oftheir top portions to hold them in spaced relation, and to form meansfor connecting the sections of the frame when the frame is sectional andalso to provide means to which to tie the top of the body of the tentwhen it is suspended within the frame members. v

The invention further includes a ventilator arrangement in the top ofthe flat upper portionof the tent body and provided with a cover whichhas straps thereon to be laced to the opposite frame members. The bodyof the tent is also provided with cords or connector elements at thecorners of its top portion in order to be pulled upwardly and outwardlyat these corners to hold the sides of the tent body in taut condition.The top, side, and bottom of the tent body portion are of one piece andwhen raised in operative position, form an entirely inclosed waterandweather-proof structure suspended from within the frame but notcontaining the frame to any material extent so. as to substantiallyeliminate the possibility of undue wear and leakage therethrough.

and advantages will more clearly appear from a consideration ofthedetailed specification hereinafter set forth especially when taken inconnection with the accompanying drawings which illustrate a presentpreferred form which the invention may assume and which form part of thespecification.

In brief and general terms, the tent construction includes a flexibleframe member comprised of flexible tubular elements, which may or maynot be formed in sections detachably connected. The frame comprises apair of frame members which extend upward rather sharply from cor-'-ners of the tent and then are disposed in a direction sloping downwardlyand rearwardly to form a fiat roof. These frame members extend alongthe-top of the tent body. Transverse brace bars are disposed acrossbetween these main frame The present preferred form which the inven tionmay-assume is illustrated in the drawings, of which:

Fig. l is aside elevation of the tent in operative position;

Fig. 2 is a vertical longitudinal section through the tent inopen oroperative condition;

Fig. 3 is a perspective view of the tent viewed from the front thereof;

Fig. 4 is an elevation of a section of one of the frame rods or pipes,with a portion broken away;

Fig. 5 is a detail view showing how the frame rod is connected to atransverse tube;

Fig. 6 shows a detail of means for lengthening the frame elements atwill;

Fig. '7 shows how the sectional frame member is connected to the body ofthe tent;

Fig. 8 is a partial plan View of the manner of supporting the ventilatorhood and the top of the tent from the frame; and,

Fig. 9 is a perspective view of how small a package the tent forms whenall packed up in a bag ready to be carried away. i

and I3, all of which are tightly connected at their top edges to a topportion [4 which is so related to the other portions that when the partsare extended, it will slope gradually downwardly and to the rear asshown particularly in Figures 1 and 2. At their bottoms, these walls areconnected in a waterand weather-proof manner to a flat substantiallypolygonal ground piece i5.

Preferably, the lower portion of the front wall 55 is formed of nettingmaterial it connected along vertical and horizontal lines l? by slidefasteners to permit ready and rapid opening and closing. At the forwardportion of the top wall hi, it is provided with a reticulated portion 58which acts as a ventilator and over this portion there is disposed ahood or cover IS with a closed front wall 28 and open at the rear as at2!, to permit circulation and yet present the open portion of the hoodat the rear of the tent. The front of the tent is provided with anysuitable fiy portion 22, which can be rolled back as shown in thedrawings or can be extended in the usual manner when desired.

The tent body formed of the wall members thus far described is adaptedto be susupended from. and yet be substantially out of contact with aframe member of flexible rods, which may or may not be formed insections. As illustrated, there are a series of frame members formed ofrods such as are shown in Figure i, which take, in one embodiment, theform of tubes 23 which may be connected in sections by means of solidconnector rods 24 which are adapted to fit snugly into the ends ofadjacent tubes, as seen in Figure 4. Thus the length of the frat. emembers can be made as desired by building up and connecting therequisite number of sections as shown.

These frame members are connected to the tent body by being insertedinto elongate sleeves of cloth 25, which are formed alongthe corners ofthe tent body where the vertical walls meet and extend down to theground piece id. The frame members extend up from the corners of theground piece at rather sharp angles, and at their upper ends, theconnector rods or pins 2 2 thereon extend into holes 25 in transversetubes 2? seen in Figure 5. In Figures 1 and 2, it is clear that thereare two of these cross tubes 23', one across between the frame membersat the front of the top portion i lof the tent body portion, and anotheracross the rear of the tent body portion id.

Cords or tie elements of suitable material, such as 28, extend fromloops 29 on the body material and are wrapped around the frame elements23 or to the cross tubes 2's and then connected at their other end tothe loops 29. As shown in Figure 6, the cords may be knotted and passthrough holes in the elements 23 and then be fastened to the tent bodyin any desired manner. Thus it is clear that the top of the tent body isconnected to and supported from the frame elements of the tent at leastat the corners thereof, and this suspension tends to keep the side wallsand the top pulled tight and prevents sagging thereof, so that theinterior of the tent is as commodious as possible. This suspension, itis seen, will also hold the top of the tent with a slight slope from thefront downwardly to. the rear of the tent.

The ventilator 58 with its-hood portion i9, is kept open when the. tentis put up by means of straps 33, which are connected to the oppositeside of the hood and pass over and around the adjacent frame elements23, which extend across the top of the tent top portion Hi. In thisextension, the elements 23 are disposed in a slightly sloping downwardand rearward plane and are connected to suitable holes in the transversetubes at their ends as shown. The straps are connected by suitable tiemembers, such as cords 3ishown in Figure 8. Thus the hood of theventilator is kept readily fully open with the opening facing to therear of the tent which is generally disposed away from the prevailingwinds of the site selected. As is clearly seen from an inspection ofFigure 2, the end connection between the frame tubes 23 and the crosstubes, is such that the frame elements pass up at a sharp angle to meetthe cross tubes and then extend in a rather flat manner across the topof the tent. Preferably, the frame members are disposed as shown,extending from corresponding corners of the tent up and alongside thetop portion 54. In this disposition of the frame members, it is easy togive a four point suspension to the top of the tent to keepit as flat aspossible and give a maximum of head room within the tent. With theweight of the tent body thus suspended from within the frame, it is seenthat the frame members are placed under stress of tension which tends tobow them and keep them taut. When thus suspended, the body tapers fromthe ground line to a sloping streamlined flat roof providing far morespace with the utmost economy of material and weight. The body of thetent when up, presents no vertical surfaces on any side, but are evenlystreamlined to the wind in all four directions from the ridge to theground line. The tents have no inside poles or brace members providingfull unobstructed usable space. The tent body is completely suspended bywebbing sleeves and draw cord ropes or cords to its outside resilientframe.

While the invention has been described in detail and with respect to thepreferred form shown in the drawings, it is not to be limited to suchdetails and forms since many changes and modifications may be made inthe invention without departin from the spirit and scope of theinvention in its broadest aspects. Hence, it is intended to cover anyand all forms and modifications of the invention which may come withinthe language or scope of any one or more of the appended claims,

What I claim as my invention, is:

1. A tent body having a polygonal ground piece, side walls connectedthereto and extending upward at a sharp angle, a top piece of polygonalshape sloping slightly toward the rear and connected along its edges tothe upper edges of the respective side walls, frame members of flexiblematerial extending up from the corners of the ground piece to thecorners of the top piece but out of contact therewith, frame members offlexible material extending along the side edges of the top piece butabove the same, cross members extending across the front and rear edgesof the top of the body but'above the same, means to connect the adjacentends of the frame members to the cross members, and means to suspend thetent'b'cdy within but out of contact with the frame membersfand undertension.

2; A tent body having a roof, a ventilator therein, a hood over theventilator, flexible frame elements exten'ding'along and above the sidesof the roof, straps on the hood to extend over the frame members, andcords to'connect the ends of the straps to hold the hood elevated andconnected to the frame.

3. A tent frame comprising flexible sectional tubular elements extendingupwardly along the corners of the tent, transverse tubes extendingbetween the upper ends of pairs of said members, said tubes havingapertures therein and said members having snug fitting rods orconnectors in their ends to extend into said holes and connect the tubeswith the frame members, and frame members of similar form extendingbetween said transverse tubes across the top of the tent.

4. A tent body having substantially flat sharply inclined wallsextending upwardly, said walls connecting to the respective sides of arearwardly sloping top piece, flexible frame members extending upwardlyat a sharp angle along the corners of the body to respective corners ofthe top piece, transverse frame members connecting respective upper endsof said upwardly extending frame member, and flexible frame membersextending from said transverse members along the sides of the top piece,and means to suspend the body of the tent within said frame members butsubstantially out of contact'therewith.

5. A tent body having substantially fiat sharply inclined wallsextending upwardly, said walls connecting to the respective sides of arearwardly sloping top piece, flexible frame members extending upwardlyat a sharp angle along the corners of the body to respective corners ofthe top piece, transverse frame members connecting respective upper endsof said upwardly extending frame member, and flexible frame membersextending from said transverse members along the sides of the top piece,and means to suspend the body of the tent within said frame members butsubstantially out of contact therewith, a ventilator in the top piece, ahood thereover, and means to tie the hood in open position to the framemembers extending along the side of the top piece.

6. A tent body having substantially flat sharply inclined wallsextending upwardly, said walls connecting to the respective side of arearwardly sloping top piece, sleeves at the corners of the body andextending partly up the same, flexible members with their lower endsdisposed in said sleeves and extending upwardly at a sharp angle alongthe corners of the body to respective corners of the top piece,transverse frame members connecting respective upper ends of saidupwardly extending frame members, flexible frame members extending fromsaid transverse members along the sides of the top piece, the ends ofthe frame members extending into holes in said transverse member, tiecords connected to the corners of the top piece and adapted to beconnected to the frame members to suspend the body within the framemembers but substantially out of contact therewith.

7. A tent body having substantially flat harply inclined walls extendingupwardly, said walls connecting to the respective side of a rearwardlysloping top piece, sleeves at the corners of the body and extendingpartly up the same, flexible members with their lower ends disposed insaid sleeve and extending upwardly at a sharp angle along the corners ofthe body to respective corners of the top piece, transverse framemembers connecting respective upper ends of said upwardly extendingframe members, flexible frame members extending from said transversemembers along the sides of the top piece, the end of the frame membersextending into holes in said transverse member, tie cords connected tothe corners of the top piece and adapted to be connected to the framemembers to suspend the body within the frame members but substantiallyout of contact therewith, a ventilator in the top piece, a hoodthereover, and straps extending from the hood around the frame members,and cord connecting the ends of the straps to hold the hood in openposition within the frame members.

8. A tent construction including a tent body formed integrally of apolygonal ground piece, side walls connected thereto and extendingupward at a sharp angle, and a top piece of polygonal shape connectedalong its edges to the upper edges of the respective side walls, fourframe members of flexible material convergingly extending up from thecorners of the ground piece toward the corners of the top piece but outof contact therewith, the bottoms of said frame members adapted torepose on the ground without being inserted therein, frame members offlexible material extending along the side edges of the top piece butabove the same, cross members extending across the front and rear edgesof the top of the body but above the same, means to connect the adjacentends of the frame members to the cross members, and means to suspend thetent body within but out of contact with the frame members and undertension.

ROBERT L. BLANC'HARD.

References Cited in the file of this patent UNITED STATES PATENTS NumberName Date 548,425 Biddle Oct. 22, 1895 1,113,898 House Oct. 13, 19141,818,545 Eriksson Aug. 11, 1931 2,440,557 Power Apr. 27, 1948 V IFOREIGN PATENTS Number Country Date 265,080 Italy May 23, 1929

